Climate
Action
Checklist

We need ambitious climate policy to solve the crisis at scale.

ClimateVoice was founded by Bill Weihl, former Director of Sustainability at Facebook and Google’s Green Energy Czar. Our mission is to mobilize the voice of the workforce to urge companies to go “all in” on climate, both in business practices and on policy advocacy.

When employees speak; companies act!

Our theory of change is that employees are an untapped – and powerful – lever to push companies to lobby for climate. As an employee, you have a lot of influence within your company, and companies have a lot of power when it comes to enacting (or blocking) climate policy solutions.

The Checklist

This page provides actionable steps you can take to advocate for climate policy progress at work. It contains advice, best practices, education, ideas, inspiration, and the resources you need to get started.

Do Your Research

The first step is understanding what your company is already doing about climate change. Use the ‘5 W’s’ approach to do a landscape analysis: who, what, where, when, and why.

Who makes decisions about sustainability in your company? Do you have a Chief Sustainability Officer, and/or a sustainability team(s)? Consult internal resources, talk to colleagues, and figure out who is ultimately responsible for sustainability decisions in your workplace.
What are your company’s sustainability commitments, targets, or goals? Look for your company’s annual sustainability report, which is usually found on a public facing website.
Where are people already talking about sustainability? Is there an existing employee sustainability community, Employee Resource Group (ERG), or Green Team?
When is your company expecting to hit its sustainability commitments, targets, or goals? Timelines matter.
Why is your company focused on sustainability? What are their stated reasons? Understanding their reasoning is an important part of being able to help, or in some cases challenge, what your company is doing to address climate change.

Have Conversations with Colleagues

It is critical to figure out where people in your company are already talking about sustainability. If a Green Team or Employee Resource Group exists, make sure you join and become an active member.

Build trusted relationships with key stakeholders. Start by introducing yourself and asking them questions about their work, career, and life – and learn about potential mutual concerns.

In many corporate environments, influence is typically top down and based on hierarchy, position, tenure, and title. If you don’t have these things, you’ll have to learn how to influence without authority.

What role do employees currently play in sustainability commitments and strategy in your company? Identify sympathetic allies and map out key stakeholders.

Have Conversations with Leaders

Now it is time to revisit what your company is doing relative to climate policy engagement. Ask what’s missing when it comes to climate policy advocacy?
Ask questions about your company's trade association memberships. This Engagement Sheet published by Planet Tracker includes key questions to ask.
Urge your company to conduct a thorough trade association audit. You can share Unilever’s 2025 Climate Policy Engagement Review best practice example of prioritizing their Climate Transition Action Plan and linking policy activities accordingly.
Elevate climate-related conversations at work and build community around purpose and across differences. Ask managers and senior leaders questions at any opportunity you have, from live town halls, to annual surveys.

Build Community: Green Team Success Stories

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If a green team or employee sustainability community or resource group community doesn’t yet exist, start one!

You can learn more about effective community organizing in the workplace in this webinar featuring employee advocates from Google, LinkedIn, Microsoft, Pinterest, and Salesforce.

Read more about this webinar convened by ClimateVoice in our accompanying February 2025 Connect the Dots newsletter.

Understand Obstacles

Trade associations exert enormous influence and are a major obstacle to climate policy progress. Influential trade groups like the Business Roundtable and US Chamber of Commerce have consistently opposed clean energy investments, climate disclosure laws, and strong pollution standards in the U.S.

  • At the most basic level, a trade association is a group of businesses who come together to increase their political influence.
  • The association uses membership dues to communicate with lawmakers, donate to political campaigns, and shape public opinion through advertising.
  • InfluenceMap, a UK-based think tank, assesses and scores over 250 industry associations globally on their climate policy engagement. Many of these trade groups receive failing grades.
  • You can read all about trade association obstruction in CV’s Connect the Dots newsletter

It is important to identify which trade associations your company belongs to and find out how those trade associations rank when it comes to climate policy advocacy. Here are some ideas for how to get started.

  • Search your company’s website for Government Affairs reports, policy whitepapers, or Corporate Social Responsibility publications. You can also search externally for trade association membership information and dues.
  • Test your knowledge about the U.S. Chamber of Commerce by taking this Quiz.
  • Read and share ClimateVoice’s Climate Policy Obstruction Scorecard to spark discussion around corporate political responsibility and how even companies with strong climate and sustainability commitments are blocking climate policy through trade association relationships.
  • Urge your company to publicly distance itself from those groups with a track record of climate policy obstruction.

Sign Your Support

An immediate step you can take is signing these two petitions and sharing them with your networks. This is an straightforward way to raise your climate voice.
Escape the Chamber Logo
Urge members of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to stop obstructing climate policy by leaving the U.S. Chamber and leading with strong advocacy for climate policy: escapethechamber.org
LEAD Logo
If you are a sustainability professional or member of a sustainability focused employee resource group, sign and share the LEAD Statement, asking companies to leverage their power and influence to accelerate climate policy progress.

Keep Up to Date

Get the facts on the connection between companies, influence, and climate policy.

Bring in a Coach

Need support or have a question?

Schedule a 30 minute coaching session with a member of the
ClimateVoice team. Complete the form below – or simply send us a question – and we’ll be in touch.

Additional Resources

  • Read Climate Action at Work: A Guide for Employee Advocates to learn
    lessons from employee advocates who have already taken these actions in their workplaces – and for a more detailed dive into advocating for climate policy progress at work.
  • Watch this video of climate icon Bill McKibben explaining why companies should Escape the Chamber.
  • Download ClimateVoice’s Escape Plan to raise this issue at work with your colleagues and company leaders. Learn how employees can help their employers call on the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to do more to lead on climate policy.
  • Explore the Employee Climate Action Network’s (ECAN) Employee Resource Hub featuring best practices from around the world.